 Okay, welcome back. Before we continue, would anyone like to share any thoughts from what we've covered so far? Any takeaways or just so I get a break from talking? Mr. Can I say something? Yes, please. The word of God is powerful and the word of God is truth and word is unchangeable because God never changes and we can completely depend on the word of God. Thank you. Yes, very important. Some of the very important things that we covered. Thank you. Okay, let's continue. If anyone has anything to say, please feel free to just post it and we look at it. Once we are through with whatever we are going to cover today, we'll have time at the end so we can either discuss some of that. Yeah, if you'll have anything else you'll want to share. So we were looking at how the gospel as God's word brought about new life in us as believers, right? And how it brought about a new creation. So just like in Genesis, the word of God brought about life and creation in the New Testament we see this gospel bringing life and bringing about a new creation. So let's just pause and reflect on what that means, that we have been made new in Christ, that we were slave to Satan, we were slave to sin, but it was just because of that word of God, right? That gospel of Jesus Christ that we were brought out of slavery and we were brought into a place of sonship. We were brought into a place of adoption as children of God. Just because of a small word, that word had the power to translate us from the kingdom of darkness into a kingdom of light, right? So if we can fully understand and grasp the power of that word, right? Just a word that brings truth, a word that brings life, a word that brings salvation. Then we can understand that that word of God, which comes from the very person of who God is, is something that can transform our everyday lives. It's not only for the moment we were saved, not only for the moment we believed in Jesus, but it is for how we are living everyday, right? Our everyday lives are transformed through the word of God. And so for us to recognize that just as powerful as the gospel was when we first believed, the power of the word of God continues to be present. If we approach it with the same kind of faith that we had when we believed in Jesus, when we received the gospel in faith, we allowed that word to impact our lives and transform us. So allowing God's word to continue to impact and transform our lives everyday is what will enable us to see those kinds, that miracle continue to be a part of our lives. That transformation and life giving ability of the word of God continue to have impact in our lives everyday. So I have a, this is from the book itself, but I just thought that this is something that we can read together as an affirmation. So if you can all read it with me. Has the seed of God's word lost any of its power or ability to work in us? Are the miracle seeds of the word unable to cause any more miracles in our lives? No, not at all. The word is the incorruptible seed. The word lives, abides and endures forever. Every word that God has spoken to us has the potential to produce in our lives. So this is something that I want us to take away, to receive for ourselves personally, that what happened when we received the gospel continues to have the power, the ability to bring transformation in our lives if we allow it to, if we approach it with that same kind of faith that we had when we received the gospel. The word lives, abides and endures forever. Okay, so just those three words for us to remember. Okay, let's just read from Isaiah 55, 10 and 11. If someone can read those two verses for us, please. Isaiah 55, 10 and 11. For as the rain comes down and the snow from heaven, I do not return there, but water the earth and make it bring forth and bud that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater. So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth. It shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish what I please and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it. Thank you. So we see here again this example of the word as seed, right? So it is not the first time the word was used as an example of a seed in the parable of the sower, but right in Isaiah we see that example and it's saying the rain and snow come down. So there is something that is being done to cause the seed to bear fruit, right? So the rain and snow come down and they water the ground, producing seed and producing bread, right? When it's sent down from heaven, it blesses the earth and there is something that comes out of that blessing that provides for the needs of people. In the same way when God sends his word, it will come down and it will have, it will produce for the people God sends it to. It will satisfy the hunger of people. It will meet the needs of people and it will bear fruit because God himself has sent that word. So we look at a few things. God's word has been designed to produce. We see here in verse 11, I send it out and it always produces fruit. So God's word has been designed to produce. The second one, God's word will accomplish that which pleases God and that which God has purposed. So I'll read it from, I have the New Living Translation. So it says it will accomplish all I wanted to and it will prosper everywhere I send it. So that is a key that it does what God pleases and what God has purposed. So the word of God is meant to accomplish what God has purposed or what God wants to do. We don't take the word of God and try to make it do what we want, right? We don't use the word of God for our own purposes, our own plans, our own pleasure. We use it in accordance with God's will. The third one, when God wants to accomplish his purpose and pleasure, he speaks forth his word. So how does God, God has a plan, God has a purpose. He has something he wants to do. How does he do it? He does it through his word. Okay, so when he wants to bless us, he speaks a word of blessing. When he wants to heal us, he speaks a word of healing. When he wants to meet and meet, he speaks a word of provision. So it's through his word that he accomplishes what he has purposed, what he wants to do. And the last one is God's word reveals his purpose and pleasure. So his word accomplishes it. He does what he wants to do through his word and his word shows us what he wants. So when we go back to the word of God, we can see what is God's purpose. What is it that God wants to do through his word? So if in God's word we see that God wants to save all those who are lost, that is a revelation of God's purposes, God's plans, what God desires to do in our midst. So this is how we can approach the word of God. He reveals his purposes and plans and pleasures through his word. He accomplishes it through his word and his word will always produce fruit, just as we saw in Isaiah 55. So what are some things that we see in scripture that God has purposed to do? We'll just read these passages. Y'all can open to it and anyone can read Psalm 38. Salvation belongs to the Lord. May your blessing be upon your people. Okay, so God desires and God has purposed to bless his people. Exodus 15, 26. Saying, if you will diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord your God and will do what is right in his sight and will listen to and obey his commandments and keep all his statues, I will put none of the diseases upon you which I brought upon the Egyptians for I am the Lord who heals you. Thank you. Exodus 23, 25. Worship the Lord your God and his blessing will be on your food and water. We'll take away disease from among you. So God desires to heal his people. His purpose is to bring healing to his people. And the third one, these are just examples of what we can see in God's word. What does God's word reveal about his purposes? So this is not an exhaustive list, just examples. Isaiah 48, 17, can someone read that and Psalm 32, 8. That says the Lord your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. I am the Lord your God who teaches you to prophet who leads you in the way that you should go. And Psalm 32, 8. I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. I will guide you with my eye. Thank you. So from these passages we see God desires to lead us to direct our paths. So if we have any questions about these things, if at any point we are in doubt, and we wonder, has God allowed me to suffer? We can go back to this passage and say, no God desires to bless his people. If we wonder, is this sickness sent by God? We can go back to the scriptures and see that God says he will not bring any of the diseases that were upon the Egyptians upon us, that he is a God who heals us. If at any point we just wonder, is God going to show me what to do next or am I going to just keep wandering about with no direction, with no sense of what next, what I should be doing. We go back to these passages where God says that he will direct us, he will show us where we should go, he will advise us, he will teach us. So this reveals God's heart, it reveals God's character. And it also is something like as we looked at Isaiah 55, that we can say this will bear fruit in my life. I'm going to receive this word, I'm going to believe that what God has said is true that he is going to teach me, he is going to advise me, he is going to heal me, he is going to bless me. And receiving that and trusting in his word will bear fruit in our lives. So we come to the end of this chapter. The seed is the word of God. The word works effectively in those who believe. So let's just look at 1 Thessalonians 2.13. We also thank God continually for this, that when you receive the message of God from us, you welcomed it not as the word of God, but as it truly is the word of God, which is effectively at work in you who believe. So the word of God, man's effect or bears fruit on the lives of those who believe. Okay, so the Greek word there is, and what that means is that in this context, it means that when we have faith, it will display, it will bring, it will show evidence in our lives because that word will bear fruit in our lives. And so that's what 1 Thessalonians 2.13 is talking about. The word will bear fruit in your lives if you believe in it, if you receive it for yourselves and you fully accept it as a word that is from God himself. Let's just also look at Proverbs 3.1, 2, 7 and 8. We'll just look at only this passage. We will look at the second one. So Proverbs 3 verses 1, 2, 7 and 8. Shall I read it, ma'am? Sure, go ahead. Thank you. My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you. 7. Be not wise in your own eyes, fear the Lord and turn away from evil. 8. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones. Yes, so we see that it is in listening to God's word and obeying God's word, right? So when we say that the word of God is going to bear fruit in our lives, the word of God will produce what God has intended for it to produce. There is also an aspect of how are we responding? One part of it is, are we believing that word? The second part is, are we being obedient to the word of God? So as we read here in Proverbs 3, the aspect of obedience is also important. If we are obedient to the whole counsel of God, to the whole teaching of God, to all of Scripture, then His word will have effect in our lives. But if we are walking in rebellion or if we are not walking in submission to God's word, then we cannot expect that God's word is going to bear fruit in our lives, right? So even in the promises that God makes through the Israelites, the covenant promises that He makes, the blessings that He promises, it's always if you obey my commandments, if you follow all that I have asked you to follow, then all of this will happen. But if we are not walking in submission in obedience to God's word, then we cannot expect the word of God to fully be realized in our lives. So that is where our part comes into play. God's word can be trusted from His character, His power, all of those things, His truth. Our part comes in faith and obedience. So believing God's word and obeying God's word are two aspects for us to see it bear fruit in our lives. Okay, so we will just start on the next chapter. But we won't go too far into it today. We'll end with these last two slides. And then if anyone has anything to share, we can discuss that or we'll take a break. We'll have a slightly long break, sorry, and come back for the next hour after that, okay? So we saw the first point based on the parable of the sower was that the seed is the word of God. Now the second is that the seed must be sown into the heart. So the soil is the heart. The seed is the word of God. The soil is our heart. And we see in all three passages in Matthew 13, Mark 4 and Luke 8 where this parable is recorded. All of them talk about the heart being the soil in which the seed is sown. Can somebody just read this Mark 4, 14 and 15 for us? The sower sows the ones along. But when they hear, Satan comes at once and by force takes away the message which is sown in them. Thank you. And can someone read Matthew 13, 19 and someone else Luke 8, 12. Matthew 13, 19. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside. Thank you. And Luke 8, 12. Luke 8, 12. Those by the wayside are the ones who hear. Then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts lest they should believe and be saved. Thank you. So we've seen all these passages that the word is planted in people's hearts and Satan snatches away that word from their hearts. So how we are receiving the word of God is important. Now the heart represents where our morality is, right? Where our moral decisions come from. It also represents the emotional part of who we are. It represents what makes us sad, what we desire, where our will is, where our faith comes from. It represents this deep inner person that is within us. Our thoughts, our understanding, our ability to reason, our imagination, our intentions, all of those things come from the heart. That is who we are on the inside. In the Old Testament, we usually see the heart used to refer to emotions, reason and will. Those are the three ways we see the word being used. So the emotional side of who we are, our reasoning and our will. So how we would usually use heart is only for our emotions, right? But we see the Old Testament also including our reasoning and our will. So the thing that motivates us or inspires us to do something. What is our gut reaction to a certain thing? That is also represented by the heart. In the New Testament, we see two words being used. The word spirit, which is numa and the word soul, which is suke. So two Greek words. But sometimes they are used together. So if we look at Hebrews 412, you can just read that. Hebrews 412. Hebrews 412. For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit of joints and of marrow and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Thank you. So here in Hebrews 412, we see that the spirit and soul are so closely associated as one and the same thing. So when we are looking at the heart, we are looking at the inner person, the person that we are within. And that is where we receive the word of God. We receive it in our inner person. And in that person is where our faith, our affections, our intentions, our desires are birthed. So when we are saying we receive the word of God, we are saying that that word must impact all of those aspects of who we are. The very things that motivate our actions, the very things that influence our thinking, the way we look at the world, the way we look at people, the way we respond to situations, the things that we aspire for, our imagination, like what we conceive of in our minds, all of those things are impacted by the word of God. So it's not about just what I do, but it's about the thoughts that lie under the things I do, the things that motivate the things I do. So that's where we want the word of God to be having an impact, to be bringing transformation. And when our thoughts, our imagination, our reasoning, our motivations, our will is transformed, then what comes out, the way we live, will automatically change. So we look at the word of God being sown in that deep inner person and bringing transformation there. We will stop here for today. If anybody would like to share anything, or if anyone has any questions, we can address that now. And then we'll come back for our next hour. Pastor, just one clarification. While reading the word, what would you suggest to stick to? Which version should we stick to? Just to stay on the same page. Which version? Actually, I would say don't stick to reading only one version because each version has a different strength. So the KJV or the MKJV are much older translations and they've been done by a larger group of scholars. And so they bring with it that interpretation that has come from a large group of people who've looked at the scriptures and together agreed on a translation. The NIV is also similar where it has been worked on by large groups of people. But if you're looking at something like the message or some translations like that where it's just done by one person, then you're getting their understanding. The New Living Translation gives you the scriptures in language that is very simple and easy to understand. And along with that comes also a little more interpretation. So some will do an exact word for word. So the NASB does a very strict word for word translation which is good in that it sticks to the original language but sometimes can be very difficult to understand because they also try to keep the words in the same order. So each translation has its strength but also there can be some drawbacks because of the method that is used in translating. When we try and look like I use, there's a website called BibleHub.com that will show you the same verse in different translations. So looking at it in different translations can actually give you a better picture of what that verse is talking about. Now obviously it's not always possible to constantly be reading scriptures in that way but especially on a verse where you're not very sure about the meaning, that's a very good way to look at it because even though we may not have a full understanding of Greek and Hebrew, these translators have that understanding and have interpreted it based on their understanding. So looking at those different translations can give you a good picture of how you can interpret that passage. Sure, thank you Pastor. Just one last clarification. When reading in class, what's the default version you'd like us to stick to while reading the notes or reading the scriptures in class? In class, you can read whatever the version is available. Yeah, no, there's no problem with that. So usually for Bible study, ESV and NRSV are versions that people use usually when they're doing like a Bible study. But I would just encourage you to use the translation that you are comfortable with. So any version is okay. Okay, thank you so much. No problem. I did see a question on chat. Yes, Sister Lucy had said any Bible software. So I use Bible Hub a lot. It's very, very useful because it also has goes back to the original language. You can look at the original language, the meaning of certain words. And then it has the different translations. You can look at the same passage in different versions of the Bible. There's also a few that we'll see recorded in this book, God's Worth a Miracle Seat, which Pastor uses. I think he uses eSword and I'm not sure what other ones he uses, but we will come to that. And maybe I'll list that out specifically in the PowerPoint so that we can use. So you have an answer to your question as well. Yes, so Greek in Hebrew is very easily accessible now to us, which is a real blessing where all those things are available to us for free. So as much as we are able to use it, those are good, helpful tools to add to our study of the Bible. Okay, any other thoughts, any takeaways or questions, anything you want to share? Those in person as well. Okay, then let's just take a break. We have a longer break and then we'll come back for our third, which will be the New Testament survey. Thank you.